On: Ask HN: What are the best programmable holiday lig...

[Tepix]

Maybe i can piggyback onto this question: Are there timer switches that can change the times depending on the calendar? I want to turn on some lights shortly after sunset but they don't have a brightness sensor. So i'd like to do it by time of day.

[sowbug → Tepix]

If you're already using Home Assistant and WLED, this is a cinch. You could even write an automation that plays your home team's colors each night they win a game.

[Tepix → sowbug]

no, i want as little tech as possible, i imagine entering the date and the latitude and perhaps the number of minutes before/after sunset/sunrise.

[beala → Tepix]

Just about any wifi smart plug will do this. If you don't want your plug to rely on other people's servers, a quick google found this one: https://mytouchsmart.com/mytouchsmart-outdoor-indoor-sunsmar.... I'm sure there are others.

[Tepix → beala]

Thanks. Looks like there are timer switches with calendars, they are sometimes called "astro timer switch".

[function_seven → Tepix]

If you don't want to go full-blown Home Assistant or anything "smart", you can still handle this with a self-contained switch.

I installed a Honeywell similar to this one [1]. You tell it the date and your lat/long, and it knows the times for dawn and dusk.

I had a previous version of it 10 years ago [2]. Worked great.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004AP92N2/

[2] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004SOZHXY/